Self-propelling vehicle with tree-felling shears

ABSTRACT

A self-propelled vehicle in which the front portion that is pivotable about a vertical axis relative to the rear portion of the vehicle carries tree felling shears with the cutting edge of the cutting blade extending substantially at a right angle to the driving direction of the vehicle. The housing for the felling shears supports a connecting assembly which pivotally supports a thrust member that is hydraulically pivotable in a plane extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle for exerting a pre-load on the tree to be felled.

United States Patent 1 Bangert et al.

[ SELF-PROPELLING VEHICLE WITH TREE-FELLING SHEARS [75] Inventors: HansBangert; Werner Arenz, both of Sprockhovel, Germany [73] Assignee:Orenstein & Koppel Aktiengesellschait, Berlin, Germany [22] Filed: Apr.17, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 244,548

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 17, 1971 Germany P 21 18734.8

June 4, 1971 Germany P 21 27 694.8

[52] U.S. Cl. 144/34 A, 144/34 R [51] Int. Cl A0lg 23/08 [58] Field ofSearch 144/34 R, 34 A, 34 E [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS3,230,988 1/1966 Dixon 144/34 E July 24, 1973 Primary Examiner-Gerald A.Dost Att0rney-Walter Becker 57] ABSTRACT A self-propelled vehicle inwhich the front portion that is pivotable about a vertical axis relativeto the rear portion of the vehicle carries tree felling shears with thecutting edge of the cutting blade extending substantially at a rightangle to the driving direction of the vehicle. The housing for thefelling shears supports a connecting assembly which pivotally supports athrust member that is hydraulically pivotable in a plane extending inthe longitudinal direction of the vehicle for exerting a pre-load on thetree to be felled.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED JUL 2 4 I975 SHEET 1 0F 3SELF-PROPELLING VEHICLE WITH TREE-FELLING SHEARS The present inventionrelates to a self-propelled vehicle which has a hydraulically operablelifting and tilting device and also has a supporting arm while thesteering of the vehicle is effected by pivoting the front portion of thevehicle about a vertical axis relative to the rear portion of thevehicle, hydraulically operable tree felling shears being arrangedslightly above the ground at the front end of the vehicle.

It is known to mount a pair of tree felling shears on the lifting frameof wheel equipped loaders or tracklaying loaders and to use such treefelling shears for felling trees in'woods. It is furthermore known toequip heavy special vehicles with built-in shears having holding meansfor the tree trunks to be felled, by means of which the tree is heldduring the cutting operation and can be transported in verticalposition. With these devices, the trunk may split to a considerablelength in view of the displacement of the fibers caused by the wedgeeffect of the blades of the shears with the result that a considerableportion of the tree becomes nonusable for the intended purposes.

Furthermore; with heretofore known devices the tree is felled-so that itwill lie transverse to the driving direction of the vehicle.Furthermore, the direction in which the tree is felled may be determinedby the effect of the blades and cannot be precisely determined. Asidefrom the fact that the heretofore known special vehicles are ratherexpensive and that the felled trees are frequently damaged, foresteringlong rows can, as a rule, not be carried out with heretofore knowndevices without damaging adjacent tree trunks.

It is, therefore,.an object of the presentinvention so to modifyheretofore customary vehicles for hydraulic actuation of tools that itwill be possible by such moditied devices to fell trees not only freefrom damage, but also so that they will fall in a direction whichsubstantially coincides with the longitudinal extension of the vehicle.

It-is another object of this invention to provide a device as set forthabove by means of which the felled tree will safely be grasped whilemaking use of the hydraulic system with which the vehicle is equippedanyhow.

These and other objects and advantages of the inven tion will appearmore clearly from the following specification, in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side. view of a'vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 represents a top view of the tree-felling shears and mountingthereof at the front end of the supporting arm.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a pressure support with a chain for pullingfelled .tree trunks away.

FIG. 4 is a top view similar to that of FIG. 2, but on a considerablylarger scale.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a tree-cutting device provided with a modifiedtree-transporting device according to the invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the tree-felling device of FIG. 5 showing atree in clampedin condition ready to be pulled away.

The self-propelling vehicle according to the present invention ischaracterized primarily in that the cutting blade of the tree fellingshears with its cutting edge is arranged substantially at a right angleto the driving direction of the vehicle, and is furthermorecharacterized by a hydraulically operable pressure support which isjoumaled for pivoting about horizontal bolts extending transverse to thedriving direction of the vehicle and which is located in a receivingsupport that is firmly connected to the free ends of a supporting arm,the pressure support being hydraulically pivotable in the direction ofthe longitudinal axis of the front portion of the vehicle by means of atiltable cylinder linked to a support, by a rocker linked by saidsupporting arm, and a connecting rod which connects the free end of therocker with the free end of the pressure support.

According to a further development of the invention, a verticallystanding receiving member is fixedly arranged on the pressure supportwhich receiving member points at an incline downwardly and on thehousing of the shears is provided with an obtuse cutout.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, a customary vehicle 1 equippedwith a four-wheel drive and normally used on building sites isillustrated in FIG. 1. This vehicle is equipped with rubber tires 2 andis adapted from the seat 3 to be steered by means of a steering wheel 4and a hydrostatic steering mechanism. The vehicle comprises a frontportion 5 which is adapted about the axis of pivot 6 to be pivotedrelative to the rear vehicle portion 7 so that the vehicle can turnalong a circle with a very short diameter. The vehicle furthermorecomprises a support 8 to which supporting arms 10 are pivotallyconnected by pivots 9. By means of the lifting cylinder 11 thesupporting arms 10 can be lifted and lowered. The support 8 furthermorecomprises a pivot 12 to which a tiltable cylinder 13 is linked. Theconnecting rod 14 has a piston connected thereto which is reciprocablein the cylinder 13 while the piston rod 14 has its outer end pivotallyconnected to the rocker arm 15 at the pivot point 16. Pivotallyconnected to the free end at the pivot 18 in the rocker 15 is one end ofthe connecting bar 17, whereas the other end of connecting bar 17 ispivotally connected at 19 to the pressure support 20. Pressure support20 comprises two arms 21 which are firmly interconnected by ahorizontally extending pressure member 22. Support 20 is pivotallyjournaled at the pivot point 23 of the receiving support 24. Support 24is at the free ends of the supporting arm 10 detachably connected to thebolt 25. Support 24 comprises a connecting pipe 240 which connects thebearing plates 24b and 240 to each other 1 and also comprises plates 24dwhich rest on the transverse bolt 10a of the supportingann 10 whilebeing connected thereto by screw connections. Bolt 26 which is rotatablyjournaled in one of the plates 24c is provided with a threaded boreextendingtransversely with regard to its longitudinal axis. The threadedbore receives a spindle 28 for adjusting the shears 24 and is providedwith a crank 28a. Welded to the shears 27 is a support 29 which isprovided with the two bearing areas 29a. Rotatably joumaled on theshears 27 in the support 30 (FIG. I is a counternut (not shown) for thespindle 28. Shears 27 are arranged in the housing 27a in which thecutting blade 27b is pivotally joumaled in the bearing 270. The edge 27dserves as counterbearing for the movable cutting blade 27b of the shears27. This blade 27b is adapted to be actuated by a hydraulic cylinderpiston system 31 which is movably journaled in the bearing point 27:: ofthe housing 27a. Connecting rod 3le of the hydrauliccylinder pistonsystem 31 engages the free end of the movable cutting blade 27b. Anabutment or bumper 32 is welded to the housing 27a.

OPERATION The driver drives his vehicle 1 against the tree 33 tobe'felled until the vehicle by means of its abutment or bumper 32engages the tree 33. The driver then stops his vehicle by means of ahand brake and actuates the steering wheel 4 in such a way that thefront portion of the vehicle pivots toward the tree 33 until the shears27 has its opening in engagement with the tree. By actuation of thecylinder 13, the pressure support 20 with the pressure member 22 ispressed against the tree so that the tree will be under a preloaddirected in the felling direction, and so that the edge 27d engages thetree 33. By actuation of the hydraulic cylinder piston system 31, 31a,the cutting blade 27b is pressed against the tree so as to cut thorughthe tree which is under preload. Due to the fact that the fibers of thetree are subjected to pulling stresses, the cutting operation isfacilitated. In order to make sure that the cut will also in slopingterrain beeffected at a right angle with regard to the tree trunk, theshears 27 are correspondingly adjusted by the spindle 28. After the treehas been felled, it can be removed by the vehicle. To this end, thepressure support 20 is lowered in driving direction, and the chain 34which is connected to the arms 21 is looped around the trunk of tree 33.After hydraulically lifting the pressure support 20, the tree can bepulled away.

Another embodiment of the device according to the invention isillustrated in FIGS. and 6. According to this embodiment a receivingsupport 24 is pivotally journaled at the pivot point 25. The support 24has an additional pivot point 23. The pivot point 23 serves forjournaling the tree felling shears 27 by means of the support 29 whichlatter is provided with the two bearing means 29a.

In order to make sure that a vertical cut can be obtained even when thevehicle is standing on a slope, the shears 27 are by means of thethreaded spindle 28 which is provided with a handle 28a inclinablerelative to the horizontal plane, said spindle 28 being pivotallyconnected to the support 29 at the pivot 26. The nonvisible cuttingblade of shears 27 is actuated by means of the hydraulic cylinder pistonsystem 31, 31a. In addition to the shears 27, also the pressure support21 is pivotally supported by the support portions 29a and pivots 23. Thesupport 21 is adapted by means of a nonillustrated hydraulic cylindersystem linked to the vehicle to be pivoted through the intervention ofthe connecting rod 17 which is pivotally connected at the pivot 19 tothe support 21. Support 21 serves on one hand to press the tree into thedirection indicated by the position of the vehicle after the tree hasbeen cut off by means of the shears 27. On the other hand, after thetree 33 has been laid down in the manner described above the support 21serves for pressing the tree upon the receiving member 35 by means ofthe pressure element 34 which is connected to the support 21 and pointsdownwardly so firmly that the felled tree 33 will be held so firmly thatit can be pulled away by the vehicle.

As will be evident from the above, the advantages obtained by a'deviceaccording tothe present invention consist primarily in that the dangerof accidents which heretofore was present since with heretofore knowndevices the direction in which the tree would fall was uncertain, hasbeen greatly reduced. Furthermore, line forestering can be effectedwithout difficulties so that only individual rows of trees will befelled.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is, by nomeans, limited to the specific showing in the drawings, but alsocomprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

l. A self-propelled vehicle having a rear portion and a front portionpivotable about a vertical axis relative to said rear portion forsteering said vehicle, housing means supported by said front portion,tree felling shear means arranged in said housing means and having acutting blade pivotably mounted in said housing means and provided witha cutting edge extending substantially at a right angle with regard tothe driving direction of said vehicle, mounting means connected to saidhousing means, connecting-link means linked to said mounting means,thrust means having one end portion pivotally connected to saidconnecting means for pivoting about an axis substantially transverse tothe longitudinal axis of the vehicle and being operable selectively toexert a pre-loading pressure upon the tree to be felled, supportingmeans mounted on said front portion, supporting arm means having one endportion linked to said supporting means and having the other end portionnormally fixedly but detachably connected to said connecting link means,and means including fluid operable cylinder-piston means supported bysaid front portion and linked to said thrust means for selectivelypivoting the same in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

2. A vehicle according to claim 1, in which said means supported by saidfront portion and linked to said thrust means include rocker arm meanslinked to said supporting arm means and also include connecting rodmeans connecting said rocker arm means to said thrust means.

3. A vehicle according to claim 1, which includes abutment meansconnected to said housing means and extending in a direction transverseto the driving direction of the vehicle for abutment against the tree tobe felled.

4. A vehicle according to claim 1, which includes chaim means connectedto that end portion of said thrust means which is remote from saidconnecting means.

5. A vehicle according to claim 1, in which said housing means with saidshear means is pivotable about a horizontal axis, and which includesspindle means for pivoting said housing means about said horizontal axisto move said shear means into a plane substantially perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of the tree trunk to be felled.

6. A vehicle according to claim 1, which includes a receiving memberhaving an obtused angled cutout for said thrust means at an anglethereto for pressing against a tree trunk in said receiving member andhold ing said trunk therein.

1 I k k I!

1. A self-propelled vehicle having a rear portion and a front portionPivotable about a vertical axis relative to said rear portion forsteering said vehicle, housing means supported by said front portion,tree felling shear means arranged in said housing means and having acutting blade pivotably mounted in said housing means and provided witha cutting edge extending substantially at a right angle with regard tothe driving direction of said vehicle, mounting means connected to saidhousing means, connecting link means linked to said mounting means,thrust means having one end portion pivotally connected to saidconnecting means for pivoting about an axis substantially transverse tothe longitudinal axis of the vehicle and being operable selectively toexert a pre-loading pressure upon the tree to be felled, supportingmeans mounted on said front portion, supporting arm means having one endportion linked to said supporting means and having the other end portionnormally fixedly but detachably connected to said connecting link means,and means including fluid operable cylinder-piston means supported bysaid front portion and linked to said thrust means for selectivelypivoting the same in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
 2. Avehicle according to claim 1, in which said means supported by saidfront portion and linked to said thrust means include rocker arm meanslinked to said supporting arm means and also include connecting rodmeans connecting said rocker arm means to said thrust means.
 3. Avehicle according to claim 1, which includes abutment means connected tosaid housing means and extending in a direction transverse to thedriving direction of the vehicle for abutment against the tree to befelled.
 4. A vehicle according to claim 1, which includes chaim meansconnected to that end portion of said thrust means which is remote fromsaid connecting means.
 5. A vehicle according to claim 1, in which saidhousing means with said shear means is pivotable about a horizontalaxis, and which includes spindle means for pivoting said housing meansabout said horizontal axis to move said shear means into a planesubstantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tree trunkto be felled.
 6. A vehicle according to claim 1, which includes areceiving member having an obtused angled cutout for receiving thefelled tree trunk, and holding down means connected to and protrudingdownwardly from said thrust means at an angle thereto for pressingagainst a tree trunk in said receiving member and holding said trunktherein.